In a surprise turn of events, BBC One Controller Danny Cohen has announced radical new plans to delay Series 7 of Doctor Who until 2013, the programme's fiftieth anniversary. This news comes after Steven Moffat and others confirmed that the BBC had commissioned another 14 episodes, widely expected to include this year's Christmas special.
Kasterborous reports:
Earlier reports had suggested that the BBC hadn't yet committed to Series 7, which warranted Moffat's assertion that 14 episodes had been commissioned. But Cohen is strongly implying that the BBC is going ahead with Series 7 but wants to pause with a broadcast gap year.
Speaking to the Church and Media conference this afternoon, where Cohen was answering questions about faith and television, the man with the power to make or break a TV series confirmed the rumours that there will be no series of Doctor Who in 2012, with just a single Christmas special commissioned in advance of the 50th anniversary 2013 series.
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| The face you want to punch. |
But does this necessarily mean no Doctor Who in 2012? Last week Private Eye stated the following:
Programme chiefs in London were horrified to learn recently that BBC Wales is proposing not to make a full series of Doctor Who in 2012, but instead to put the programme on hiatus and merely bash out four “specials” as it did in 2009. Which will leave an enormous hole in the BBC1 Saturday night schedule and a bigger one in the profits of BBC Worldwide, and will mean the corporation will be paying lead actor Matt Smith to spend most of the rest of this year doing nothing.Shouldn't Moffat have any idea what's going on? As we reported last week, Moffat seems to be just as confused as everyone else.
"Okay, here it is – the best answer you can have. I don't know. If I did know, I wouldn't tell you. When I DO know, what I know will change, so I won't really know then either. And then it will change again, so I still won't really know. And if, secretly, I'd really known all along, I'd still be telling you I don't know, because everything I said I knew, could be wrong, so I'd never really have known in the first place."
It's also worth pointing out that delayed filming for Series 7 could mean fewer spoilers before the end of Series 6. This means that whatever changes come to light after Episode 13, from Amy and Rory's departure to the possibility of River Song joining Team TARDIS permanently, those secrets won't be spoiled during filming that takes place before the autumn episodes.
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| The face you want in 2012. |
It seems there are two possibilities: either the BBC is skipping out on an entire year of Doctor Who, save for a 2012 Christmas special, or Russell T Davies' plan of four 2009 specials could become next year's template. More news as it happens.
For the optimists among us will note that Cohen's remarks haven't yet been quoted; in the process of paraphrasing his plans for BBC One's greatest hit, some crucial information could have been lost along the way.
9 comments :
I. AM. OUTRAGED.
are they TRYING to kill us?!!!? I mean really!!! First this gap, then a whole year?!? People will be so pissed by the end of it no one will watch, and this is a huge jab into their pockets, I just don't see the reasoning!!
moff says 1 thing ,now this, we need an official statement
There better be at least specials in 2012, otherwise it's the 1985/86 hiatus all over again!
Dr Who creates so much money for the BBC, and it's incredibly popular at the moment. What the hell are they doing?
i think this is a lie go to kasterborous, dont follow the link in the post GO TO Kasterborous now!!!!
This news has been confirmed.
looks like the BBC are finally fucking Doctor Who well and truely,
they already gave us an agonising hit having moffat become head writer, that made the show boring and predictable,
now their striking again with giving the series a hiatus, and the fatal blow will probobly come nxt year when they cancel it again!
I'll wait until we hear official confirmation before kicking the cat. Which I guess is the best for both of us.
Seriously, Gee? Two posts above this one is an official confirmation. It's 100% true. And Steven Moffat has also acknowledged it.
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